


Haunted Destiny

by Headfulloffantasies



Category: Tangled (2010)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Family Reunion, Injury, Mother Gothel - Freeform, Post-Movie, Rapunzel is being haunted, What if Eugene died?, character death is off screen, ghost - Freeform, lost princess, minor blood, not violent
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-14
Updated: 2020-03-16
Packaged: 2021-02-28 21:08:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,952
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23143672
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Headfulloffantasies/pseuds/Headfulloffantasies
Summary: Eugene is dead. Gothel is dead. Rapunzel is alone. But someone is haunting her.
Relationships: Eugene Fitzherbert | Flynn Rider/Rapunzel
Comments: 9
Kudos: 25





	1. A Different Ending

It happened like this: Mother’s knife slid between Eugene’s ribs. Rapunzel bartered her life for Eugene’s. She opened her lips to sing and he asked her to wait. A shard of mirror sliced through the golden magic hair. Mother fell from the tower window, reduced to dust. Rapunzel cried out, but there was nothing to be done. Her hair was gone, shorn short by the man dying before her. They said their good-byes. Eugene called Rapunzel his new dream. 

Eugene died. 

And though Rapunzel wept, and sang her healing song, the magic was gone. Eugene was gone. 

Rapunzel didn’t immediately leave her tower. The secret stairs waited, the door unlocked, but she couldn’t bring herself to leave just yet. She’d only descended those stairs once. To bury Eugene at first light the day after he died. The dirt at the edge of the pond was soft enough to dig. Rapunzel threaded flowers through his hair and made a cross for a marker. She painstakingly carved the Corona sun into the wood and painted his name in blue like his vest. 

Rapunzel looked up at the path that led to the city. It pulled at her. Her new life, her parents, the kingdom. 

Her new dream was dead, and Rapunzel needed time before she could face the rest of her life. The next day she woke to the sun streaming through the window and she knew. Today was the day. Time to go. 

Rapunzel packed slowly. She’d lived here for eighteen years. Though she’d hated parts of it, it was home. She needed things. Her paints, her books, her frying pan. She packed them into Eugene’s satchel, the one thing of his she’d let herself keep. 

Rapunzel gathered Pascal onto her shoulder. His scales turned a dull shade of blue. 

“Me too, buddy. But it’s time to go,” she said. She turned to the stairs. 

A crash startled Rapunzel. She whipped around. A ceramic bowl lay in shattered pieces on the floor. 

Rapunzel cast her eyes about, but she didn’t see any reason for the bowl to have fallen. 

“That was weird,” she mumbled to Pascal. Rapunzel turned back to the stairs. The door, a little wood trapdoor set into the floor, creaked. 

“The wind?” Rapunzel muttered. 

The door slammed shut.

Rapunzel jumped. “Not the wind!” Rapunzel clutched at Pascal. “What is it?”

Cold like frost crept up the back of her neck. Rapunzel dashed for the trapdoor. She yanked on the handle, but it didn’t budge. Something tickled the hairs on her arms. 

“The door is stuck!” Rapunzel grunted, throwing her weight against it. Pascal leaped from her shoulder and tried pulling with her. 

Something moved in the corner of Rapunzel’s vision. She snapped her head up. A pale figure flickered in the center of the room. Nearly transparent, it was impossible to make out any features. 

“A ghost!” Rapunzel screamed. She tripped and fell back, her hand colliding with the broken bowl. She hissed as the shards cut into her palm. The ghost vanished and reappeared an instant later, close enough to touch. 

“Back off!” Rapunzel swung her uninjured fist. It passed through the apparition like air. The ghost faded like mist with a sigh. 

Rapunzel cradled her bloody hand to her chest, breathing hard. She stood and spun, searching for the ghost. It seemed to have disappeared for now. Rapunzel’s heartrate doubled. 

“It’s trapping us here, Pascal,” she whispered. The thought hit her like a sledgehammer. “It must be Mother’s ghost. She doesn’t want me to leave.” Rapunzel’s breaths hitched into hiccups. Tears ran down her face. 

“I’m going!” She shouted to the empty tower. “You can’t stop me anymore!”

Nothing answered.

The cut on Rapunzel’s hand was deeper than she’d thought. It took ages to stop bleeding. Finally, she bound it tight and approached the trapdoor again. She tugged and strained, but it didn’t budge. The sun was dying crimson on the horizon when Rapunzel finally gave up. Panting and worn out, she trudged up to her bedroom. 

“We’ll find some rope tomorrow,” Rapunzel promised Pascal. “I’ll tear up the bedsheets if I have to. But it’s too dark to travel right now. We’ll start in the morning.”

Rapunzel fell into exhausted sleep immediately. She dreamed of rolling green fields, swirling sunbeams, and laughter. She danced in the town square again, whirling from partner to partner. Every time she changed hands, she looked into their face and felt disappointment cloying her stomach. Rapunzel turned her head, searching the clapping and laughing crowds for a face she could not name. Brown hair, brown eyes. Every flash of blue drew her, but it was never who she was looking for. The spinning was making her dizzy. Rapunzel closed her eyes.

“Blondie,” a voice sighed in her ear. Rapunzel opened her eyes and woke up. 

“Eugene,” Rapunzel whispered into the grey dawn. Tears spilled down her cheeks. Her heart ached. How long would she feel this? How long was it going to hurt before she could look back and smile at the dream they’d shared? How long until it stopped feeling like the blade Mother wielded had pierced Rapunzel’s heart? 

Pascal chirped on the pillow beside her. His tail flicked away the tear that had trailed down her cheek. 

Rapunzel gave him a watery smile. “Thank you, Pascal.” She sat up and stretched. “We’re getting out of here today. Let’s go.”

Rapunzel ended up tearing the sheets. She knotted the linens together and tossed one end out the window, leaning out to measure how far. The makeshift rope didn’t quite reach the grass, but it was close enough to jump the last bit. 

Rapunzel secured the rope on the hook above the window and gave it a tug. 

“Ready Pascal?” Rapunzel brushed her new bangs out of her face. The little chameleon let out an excited chirp.

“Here we go!” Rapunzel leaped out the window. The soaring air rushed through her hair and lungs. It was almost as good as the first time. The sheets slid through Rapunzel’s fingers. The grass came up to meet them. Rapunzel tightened her grip and slowed their descent. The last five feet or so ended in open air. Rapunzel held her breath and let go. 

Rapunzel’s feet hit the ground hard. Something in her left ankle gave with a stomach churning pop. Rapunzel cried out as she hit the grass, her legs giving out under her. She lay still for a second gasping on pain. She gritted her teeth and pulled herself to sitting. Her ankle didn’t look broken. She tried flexing it. A spasm of pain lanced up her calf. Rapunzel hissed. It was definitely sprained. 

“Great,” Rapunzel mumbled. How was she supposed to walk through the woods on a sprained ankle? She glanced back up at the tower. There was no way she could pull herself back up the rope. Maybe she could make it to the stairs, but then what? The door was barred by the ghost. A shudder ran through Rapunzel. She wasn’t staying here. She had to get away from the ghost of Mother. 

With a wince, Rapunzel pulled herself to her feet. She tested her injured foot. It hurt, but she could limp on it. Rapunzel gathered Pascal onto her shoulder and set her sights on the cave beyond the meadow. If she could make it to the woods, she could fashion a crutch out of a tree branch. 

The sun crested the tops of the trees and fell on the fresh turned earth beside the pond. Rapunzel’s heart sank. She knew deep down she was never coming back here. Time to say good-bye. 

Rapunzel knelt beside the marker she’d made. 

“Eugene Fitzherbert,” Rapunzel ran her fingers over the letters. 

Tears splashed down her face. Through the haze, she suddenly noticed a pale form standing behind the grave. 

Rapunzel leaped to her feet, her ankle protesting. 

“What do you want?” She asked, her voice shaking. 

The ghost did not answer. In the sunlight, Rapunzel could see the green meadow right through its form. It stepped closer.

“I’m leaving, Mother,” Rapunzel lifted her chin defiantly. “You can’t stop me.”

The pale figure’s fingers closed over the cross. Red hot rage spiked through Rapunzel.

“Get away from there!” She yelled. “You already killed him, you don’t get to touch this place.”

The figure flickered and vanished. Rapunzel let out a wobbly breath. Her head was spinning with adrenaline and emotion. She quickly dried her eyes. 

Casting one last long look at the grave, Rapunzel clutched her satchel strap and hobbled towards the cave entrance. 

It took all day to limp into Corona. At last the bridge to the island was in view. Rapunzel leaned heavily on the crutch she’d made. The sun striking the parapets of the castle glowed like a jewel. She sighed happily. She’d been so excited the first time she’d been here. Pulling Eugene along the bridge, prancing around Maximus, spinning in the sunshine. It had been the perfect day. 

Getting to the castle was easy. Convincing the guards that she was the Lost Princess was another thing. Well aware of her disheveled hair, crutch, and dirty dress, Rapunzel still thought they could at least listen to her.

“Fellas, I’ve walked a long way today,” Rapunzel explained with a winning smile. “And I just want to see the King and Queen. They’ll know it’s me.”

The guard on the left, Stan, shared a glance with his partner, Pete.

“I have proof!” Rapunzel dug into her satchel and produced the missing crown. The mustached guard’s jaw dropped. Rapunzel felt a twinge of pride that at last they believed her. 

“Come here!” Pete the guard snatched Rapunzel’s arm in a vice grip. “You’re under arrest for the theft of the crown jewels.”

“What? No,” Rapunzel’s spirit dropped in dismay. Stan yanked the crown from her grasp. 

Pete frog marched Rapunzel down the cold stone steps to the dungeons. “Please,” Rapunzel begged. “I’m telling the truth. I’ve been in a tower for eighteen years. I’m the Lost Princess.”

“Sure you are,” Pete growled. He shoved Rapunzel into a dank cell. “And I’m the Queen of Geneva.”

The cell door slammed shut. Rapunzel sank onto the damp bench that served as a cot. Pascal wiggled out of his hiding spot under her collar to chirp at Rapunzel.

“How did this go so wrong?” Rapunzel asked. “I thought… I thought they’d welcome me. I thought they’d love me.” Rapunzel pulled her knees up to her chest. “I was wrong. I was naïve, Pascal.” She turned to her little green friend. “Do you think… do you think my parents gave up on me? It’s been so long, maybe they think the princess is gone for good.”

Rapunzel fell into a fitful sleep. She kept hearing a voice calling for her, but every time she turned around, no one was there. 

Rapunzel woke with a start. Nighttime whispered through her tiny barred window. Something had woken her. A noise. There it was again. A scraping of metal on stone. Rapunzel sat up. The cell door swung open. 

Rapunzel gasped. The torch light was faint down here, but she could just make out a white figure at the bars. Rapunzel whimpered and curled in on herself. 

“Go away,” she whispered. The ghost vanished. 

The door remained open. Hesitantly, Rapunzel stood and poked her head out. Pascal chirped on her shoulder. She glanced down. A worried frown tugged the corners of her friend’s mouth. 

“I know,” Rapunzel whispered. “There’s got to be guards around here somewhere, right? But if we can sneak passed them-,”

A scream cut her off. “Ghost!”

Rapunzel cringed. Heavy boots thundered down the long stone hallway. A pair of guards hurtled passed her cell, too intent on the shriek still emanating from out of sight to notice Rapunzel was no longer secure. 

Rapunzel crouched in the dark corner of her cell until their footsteps receded. 

“C’mon,” Rapunzel tucked Pascal into the crook of her neck and slipped out of the cell. She made to limp away from the screaming, but an approaching glow of torchlight illuminated the hallway from that direction. Stomping footsteps brought the light closer. Rapunzel scrambled to stay ahead of the light. She frantically scoured the hall for a door, a corner, anywhere she could escape the chasing guards. The wailing grew louder. 

At last Rapunzel came to a fork in the hallway. The yelling came from the left, the right was dark and quiet. She dove to the right just as the torch caught up to her.   
Three guards whirled passed, heading to the left. 

Rapunzel panted and slid to the ground, taking the pressure off her ankle. The voices around the corner grew louder. Rapunzel held her breath and listened.

“Shut up, Stan!”

“Tell us what happened.”

“What did you see?”

The screaming finally died into blubbering. Through the panicked sobs, Rapunzel heard Stan stammer, “A ghost! It attacked me. Flew out of the rafters. Flew through the wall!”

Muttering accompanied Stan’s account. 

“I saw it!” Stan yelled, making Rapunzel jump. “White as bone and floating. It didn’t have a face.”

Rapunzel shuddered. Mother’s ghost had indeed followed her, it seemed. She had to get out here. Rapunzel groped her way along the stone hallway. Eventually, limping, she came to a set of stairs leading up. Rapunzel followed them, her bare feet silent on the steps. A massive door sat at the top of the stairs. Praying it wasn’t locked, Rapunzel tried the latch. It opened under her hand.

Rapunzel crept out into pale moonlight. Her feet sank into lush carpet. A long corridor spread before her, lined with white doors to the right and soaring windows to the left. Rapunzel looked down at Pascal. He shrugged. She’d just have to try the doors until one let her outside. She couldn’t stay in the castle any longer. 

Rapunzel’s hands shook as she tried the first door. It was locked. She opted for the next one. Locked. Every door was barred. Rapunzel’s heart pounded. Each passing second was a chance for the guards to discover her missing. Finally, Rapunzel tried the last door in the corridor. The latch gave. She slid inside with a sigh of relief. 

The ceilings of the room soared. A balcony window let an ocean of moonlight bathe the room. Rapunzel hobbled towards the balcony. Maybe there would be some ivy to climb down. Her eye caught on the center piece of the room. A baby bassinet. Curiosity piqued; Rapunzel tip toed closer. A purple blanket draped over the crib, emblazoned with the sun of Corona. A tiny rattle lay in the crib. Rapunzel plucked it up with shaking fingers.

This was mine, the realisation hit. Rapunzel stood in the Lost Princess’ room. 

“Who’s there?” The voice startled Rapunzel. She dropped the rattle. It clattered against the marble floor.

“I’m sorry,” Rapunzel stuttered. “I’m, uh, I’m lost. I didn’t mean to-,”

Out of the shadow stepped a huge man in a robe of flowing purple. On his head, a crown winked in the moonlight. 

Rapunzel gasped. “You’re the King.”

The King frowned under his mustache. 

Rapunzel dropped into a curtsy to hide the expression on her face. Her father. She was facing her father. 

“Come here,” a match struck and the King held up a candle. “Let me see you.”

Rapunzel limped forward. She kept her eyes respectfully downwards. 

“What are you doing here?” He asked. His voice was gruff, but Rapunzel noted the lack of anger. 

She took a deep breath. Now or never. Rapunzel lifted her head. “I’m the Lost Princess.”

The frown darkened to a scowl. “Young lady-,”

“My name is Rapunzel,” she interrupted. “Eighteen years ago, a woman named Gothel stole me away. I’ve been in a tower ever since. She stole me because I had the power of a magic flower. But,” Rapunzel stumbled over her explanation. “I don’t anymore. Eugene, my… my friend, he cut my hair to save me. He saved my life,” she whispered the last phrase to herself. 

Rapunzel watched the King’s face. He remained frozen, with his lips parted, staring at her. Suddenly the candlestick dropped from his grasp. Rapunzel flinched as it hit the marble floor. 

“Can it be?” The King reached out for Rapunzel. “Is it really you?”

He cupped Rapunzel’s chin and lifted her face. A breathless laugh escaped the King. “You have your mother’s eyes.”

Tears flooded the King’s eyes. He wrapped Rapunzel in a crushing hug. She clung back, her heart soaring. This was all she ever wanted. Years of dreaming. With a pang, Rapunzel wished Eugene could see this. He had sacrificed himself for this moment. 

The King pulled back. “Come with me,” he tugged her hand. “We have to tell your mother.”


	2. Dream Come True

The Kingdom rejoiced. At first light the next day, the King and Queen presented Rapunzel to her subjects from the sweeping balcony of the palace. She leaned heavily against her father as she waved and smiled at the crowds cheering and waving below. Rapunzel longed to run down the stairs and join the people, to dance and spin among them, but her ankle still twinged and she was exhausted from a night of dark disturbing dreams. 

In the evening, the palace doors were thrown open for all of Corona to join the reunited family in the Great Hall.

Rapunzel marvelled at the tables bowing under more food than she knew existed. Sitting with her parents on a raised dais above everyone else, Rapunzel tasted every course and tried every dish. She did her best to express gratefulness to her new parents. 

“This is wonderful…” she trailed off, unsure what to call them. Father seemed to suit the King. But the Queen was harder to choose a name for. Rapunzel resolved never to call another woman “Mother”. Should she try ‘mom’, or ‘mama’ or maybe just ‘Arianna’? Rapunzel mulled it over while she chewed a bite of the most delicious stewed lamb she’d ever eaten.

Between the entrée and dessert, Queen Arianna grasped Rapunzel’s hand. 

“I have something for you,” she said with a soft smile.

“For me?” Rapunzel accepted the square package the queen passed to her. Rapunzel tore the purple wrapping to find a beautiful leather journal. She gasped.

Queen Arianna smiled, “I used to write my adventures in a book. Now you can too. Look here,” she flipped the journal open to the first page. In flowing script read the words “Plus Est En Vous”. 

“It means, “There’s more to you”,” Queen Arianna explained. 

“I love it. Thank you,” Rapunzel hugged her mother. Queen Arianna squeezed her tight. The Queen let go first. For the first time, Rapunzel realised she had been waiting for the queen to pat her hair. Mother always touched Rapunzel’s hair when the hug came to an end. 

Rapunzel celebrated with the kingdom, but with a stab of pain in every smile. She clasped hands with every peasant, and wished the hand she held was Eugene’s. She feasted, and wished she could share her meal with Eugene. Eugene’s smile, his laugh, his sarcastic remarks, she missed them all. 

Queen Arianna noticed first. She pulled Rapunzel away from a bowl of punch in the middle of a party in the Great Hall. Rapunzel let her mother lead her out onto the terrace to sit on a bench surrounded by flower boxes. 

“Darling, tell me what’s wrong,” Queen Arianna asked. “Aren’t you happy here?”

“Of course,” Rapunzel took her mother’s hands to reassure her. “I love you, dearly. But I miss Eugene.”

“The thief?” The Queen raised her eyebrows. Rapunzel flushed. Flynn Rider’s shadow had yet to fade from Eugene’s memory. 

“I loved him,” Rapunzel reminded her mother. 

“I’m sure he loved you too,” Queen Arianna squeezed Rapunzel’s hands. “I’m sorry we never got to meet him.”

Rapunzel’s lip wobbled. She blinked back tears. “He would have hated this,” she gasped. “All this fancy jewelry in one room, and he wouldn’t be able to steal any of it.”

Rapunzel and the Queen shared a watery laugh. Queen Arianna reached out and plucked a sprig of blue flowers from the planter beside her. She carefully tucked it behind Rapunzel’s ear. 

“There. Forget-me-nots. Now you’ll always remember him.”

Later, Rapunzel pressed the flowers between the pages of her new journal. “I’ll never forget.”

***

For two nights Rapunzel had slept in a guest bedroom. She would have happily stayed there, but her parents insisted that she move into the room they had chosen for her as an infant. 

“When the sun sets, it strikes your window just so,” the Queen sighed.

For a day and a half, the palace staff aired out the room, scoured the floors, changed the curtains, brought in fresh flowers, and hauled in a regular sized bed. 

Finally, it was ready for Rapunzel.

Rapunzel collected her meager belongings from the guest room. 

“My first night in my new room,” Rapunzel giggled to Pascal. She gathered up the chameleon into her hands to hold at eye level. “This is so exciting!”

Rapunzel pushed open the door to her new room. Standing in the center of the room, awash in the setting sun, was the queen. Rapunzel stumbled to a halt.

The queen turned, the sunset lighting her hair a brilliant auburn. Rapunzel’s fingers itched for her paints. It was quite a picture, the queen blazing in the sun with the clear sky behind her out the window and the light glowing in her crown. 

“Rapunzel, can we talk?” The queen asked.

Rapunzel nodded, dropping her things on the desk to her left.

The queen took her hand and led Rapunzel to sit on the edge of the bed. Though the queen kept her hand in Rapunzel’s hand, she didn’t meet Rapunzel’s expectant gaze.

“I can’t help feeling we haven’t quite… clicked,” The queen started. “You never call me Mother.”

Rapunzel’s throat seized. She swallowed hard. Before she could say anything, the queen continued. 

“I don’t expect you to love me overnight. But I hoped we could spend some more time together. To get to know each other properly. And when you’re ready, you can call me Mother.”

“No,” the word came out before Rapunzel could bite it back. The queen started to pull her hand away, but Rapunzel tightened her grip.

“No, I didn’t mean it like that,” she said hastily. “I can’t call you Mother because that’s what I called… her.”

The queen’s face broke into sorrow. She pulled Rapunzel into a hesitant hug. “You can call me anything you want,” she said.

“How about mom?” Rapunzel suggested, trying it on her tongue.

The queen nodded. “Yes, I like that.”

“Ok, mom,” Rapunzel smiled. She stifled a yawn.

Mom chuckled. “You’ve had a busy few days. I’ll let you get some sleep.” She squeezed Rapunzel’s hand one more time and left. The door clicked softly behind her.

Though thoroughly exhausted, Rapunzel scooped up Pascal to explore her room before she turned in for the night. Not much had changed since the night she’d met her Father. Aside from the soaring ceiling and balcony windows, the room was fairly sparse. A writing desk, a vanity and a lounge chez had been brought in. Rapunzel wandered over to the closet and threw open the doors. 

“Oooh!” She exclaimed. “Pascal, look at all these dresses!” Every shade of every colour of every fabric imaginable filled the shelves and hangers. Rapunzel stepped inside. The dresses whispered against her skin. It was like being hugged by a rainbow. Rapunzel giggled. She spun a lazy circle further and further into the closet.

“How far does it go?” She wondered, stretching for the back wall. 

Pascal chirped, suddenly poking her shoulder.

“What is it?” Rapunzel turned to see what Pascal frantically pointed to. 

At the door of the closet a translucent figure hovered. It extended a hand to Rapunzel.

She gasped. A shiver ran down her spine. 

“Mother?” Rapunzel whispered; her voice hoarse. Tears blurred her vision. “Go away!” She snatched up a shoe from the rack and threw it at the ghost. It sailed right through the pale figure. 

“Why can’t you leave me alone?” Rapunzel shouted. She clenched her shaking fists. “I’m finally happy. I have a family here. You can’t ruin that!”

The ghost floated into the closet. A chill spread over Rapunzel’s fingers and toes. The door slammed shut. 

Rapunzel yelped as darkness enclosed them. She backpedaled away from the spot where she’d last seen the ghost. A bit of fabric caught on Rapunzel’s heel. She wheeled for balance, grabbing for something in the dark. She snatched a handful of cloth and went down, a terrible ripping accompanying her scream. Rapunzel crashed to the floor. A tangle of fabric landed on top of her, smothering and suffocating. Rapunzel lashed out, kicking and punching and yelling. 

Light suddenly flooded the closet. Rapunzel froze, blinking up at her father. 

“Rapunzel?” He asked, uncertainty painted across his face. 

Rapunzel heaved a sigh of relief. “The door closed on me,” she explained. 

Her father reached out and helped Rapunzel unwind the mess of dresses she’d gotten herself into.

Her father pulled Rapunzel gently to her feet. “Are you alright?” he led her out of the closet. 

“Yes,” Rapunzel panted. Her fear abated now that she wasn’t alone or in the dark. “I just panicked. I’m sorry.”

“It’s alright,” her father said. “I was headed to bed and heard you screaming. I thought…” he trailed off. Rapunzel filled in the rest. He thought she was hurt, being taken, any number of the things that already happened to her, that he hadn’t been able to stop before. 

“Thank you for rescuing me,” Rapunzel smiled.

Her father chuckled; eyes bright. “Anytime, my dear.” 

He harrumphed, straightening his collar. “I’m off to bed. Goodnight, Rapunzel.”

“Goodnight,” Rapunzel added quickly. “I love you.”

The King’s face broke into a wide smile. “I love you too.” He closed the door softly behind him.

Rapunzel gave up on exploring the rest of her room. She changed into soft pajamas and dove into the huge four poster bed stacked with a mountain of pillows. 

Rapunzel burrowed into the blankets and fell fast asleep. A voice, soft and velvet, followed her into the dark.

“Blondie. Rapunzel.”

The voice changed. “Rapunzel, let down your hair!” Mother Gothel’s voice trilled. 

Rapunzel ran to her tower window. Far below, Mother Gothel waved. Rapunzel reached for her long tresses. Her hands closed on nothing. Her hair was gone. 

Rapunzel dashed to the mirror in the corner. A brunette with her eyes and mouth and nose stared back. The mirror shattered, glass flying everywhere. The sound of hair sliced by a shard of mirror echoed through the tower. A hand grabbed Rapunzel’s shoulder and spun her around. Mother Gothel loomed, her teeth bared in a snarl.

“Don’t ever ask to leave this tower again.”

Rapunzel sat bolt upright. Her heart pounded. 

Sunlight filled the room, banishing the chill of the nightmare. Pascal bumped his head against Rapunzel’s hand. She patted him gently. 

“Just a dream,” she assured him. 

Rapunzel laid back and stared at the ceiling. After so many years laying under a roof crammed with her own artwork, the plaster looked pale and lonely. 

“I know what I’m doing today,” Rapunzel grinned at Pascal.

After breakfast with her parents Rapunzel hurried back to her room. Her mind bustled with ideas and colours. 

Rapunzel threw open her art case and pulled out her brushes and paints. She decided to start with the blank wall between her bed and the empty bookcase. Rapunzel hummed to herself as the outline of her work took shape. Daubs of green and purple swished onto the wall. Her hand moved lightning quick to keep up with the flow of inspiration. Gradually, a portrait of Rapunzel and Pascal together took shape. The little chameleon chirped in excitement as he recognised himself. He puffed out his chest and posed for Rapunzel. She laughed and splashed a drop of yellow paint on his head. Pascal immediately turned the sunny shade. Chuckling, Rapunzel went back to work. 

Rapunzel paused as she reached the point of her own hair in the artwork. Her brush hovered indecisively between the yellow and brown pots of paint. This was how it was always going to be, she realised. Then and now. Before and after. Time sliced decisively through. 

The pot of blue paint at Rapunzel’s elbow shattered without warning. Rapunzel yelled at the sound. Paint splattered her dress and her face. Rapunzel blinked through the mess and thought she saw a white image against her portrait. She blinked again and it was gone. 

The door suddenly shot open. Queen Arianna rushed in, looking panicked. “I thought I heard-,” she stopped at the sight of Rapunzel covered in blue paint. 

Rapunzel flinched and ducked to scrape up the shards of pottery. “I’m sorry,” she stammered. “I’ll clean it up.”

Her mom was at her side in an instant, pulling Rapunzel’s hands away from the sharp pieces. “Are you alright?”

“Yes,” Rapunzel gulped down her tears. “I didn’t- It wasn’t- It was an accident.”

Rapunzel found herself wrapped in a fierce hug, breathing in her mom’s scent. Rapunzel froze, thinking of the paint smearing across the Queen’s dress.

“You’re not mad?”

“No, of course not,” her mom said into Rapunzel’s hair. 

The dam burst. Tears and sobs flowed out of Rapunzel. “Mother would have been furious,” she hiccupped.

Mom squeezed tighter. “That woman will never hurt you again,” she promised.

Rapunzel wished she could believe that. She sobbed harder, unable to tell her mom about the continued torment.


End file.
